Fishing news and preparing for upcoming hunting trips

With the commercial drift gill nets out of the water for lack of enough Kenai River sockeye, we are seeing a strong surge of silvers into Northern District river systems. Fish and Game liberalized the Susitna Drainage silver bag limit to four fish per day, eight fish in possession, earlier this week. That’s on top of the relaxed bag limits already declared for the Little Susitna River and Fish, Cottonwood, and Wasilla Creeks announced last week.

The down side to this unexpectedly good in-river fishing potential is the weather. With all the rain, flooding, debris, and other high-water events are making several river systems very difficult, if not impossible, to fish. If you are boating in these situations, the danger levels are elevated with the higher and faster waters moving through the various systems. I hope to get out and try some bank fishing before this sees print, assuming water levels allow me to get near some of my favorite fishing spots.

This next week, weather permitting, should be a very busy one. The silvers are running, school has already started, the state fair should be starting, and the general moose hunting season will be starting a week from tomorrow.

I’ve already been out looking at a few potential areas where I hope to fill my antlerless moose tag. I also usually look for grouse while I’m out scouting for moose too. So far, with my one scouting trip, I stumbled into some grouse and took three home for dinner. Yes, they were young of the year but meat’s meat!

With my mobility being somewhat impaired with a bum knee, I take the opportunities as they present themselves. I plan to get out more as the weather (read rain) slacks off and I’ll be carrying a firearm for moose and one for grouse as well. Over the years, I’ve found that I often find grouse while looking for moose, so I’ll try that tactic this year and see how well it works!

Actually, if I carry the correct firearm, I can use one gun for both critters if I find one or both. I’ve always been fascinated with the so-called combination long gun. This gun usually has one shotgun barrel and one rifle barrel. The most commonly encountered American made gun is the Savage Arms model 24.

Savage has made a wide variety of this model over the years in various caliber and gauge combinations. While not intending to start a collection, I have acquired several versions over time. I have a 12 gauge/30-30, which would work for grouse and moose. I also have a 20 gauge/22lr; a 410/22lr; a 20 gauge/222 Remington; a 12 gauge/ 223 Remington; and a Russian model in 12 gauge/7x57 rimmed caliber.

The Russian gun and the Savage 12 gauge/30-30 will both work for the combination of grouse and moose if the situation presents itself either direction. I have used the other guns while small game or predator hunting with some success.

The fact that I only have one shot with either the shotgun or the rifle before reloading isn’t a problem for me since I hunt with a muzzleloader and occasionally with blackpowder cartridge rifles too. Besides, if I do my part, I only need the one shot for moose and grouse will often allow time to reload if more than one bird is found in the same spot.

I have successfully hunted deer on Afognak Island with the 12 gauge/30-30 and taken a duck or two while on the same hunting trip. The 7x57 rimmed caliber of the Russian combination gun is essentially the 7x57 Mauser cartridge with a rim, making its use in the break-open action of the gun easier to handle. With the proper bullet weight, the 7x57 rimmed is more than equal to the task of harvesting a moose!

One last thought! I have yet to see an ad on television supporting the Stand for Salmon ballet initiative. I’ve seen as many as perhaps a dozen during one hour of the local news broadcast. Again, no specifics as to why the SAS is so terrible. And if you listen right at the end of the ads, the major financial supporters of the anti-SAS group are all either large mining or oil companies. Think about that!

As Frank Rue pointed out in his article a week or so back, the folks who complain about the subjectivity of current regulators want that instead of scientifically structured regulations. It’s amazing!